First Cast On and FO of 2015

Hello:
The sunrise was awesome today.  I'm sorry I didn't grab a photo, but the one above is the sunrise from yesterday.  It looks like it was cloudy over the Cascades, but that cloud was in the middle of Lake Sammamish and otherwise the sky was mostly clear.  Not so today.  We had clouds and rain and sleet today.  It didn't matter much to me as I spent almost all of the day inside knitting.

I started with 10 rows of the There and Back Again Scarf.  I am still on track, which is great.  I am close to finishing the 2nd chart so I'll post a photo then.

Yesterday, on the first, I took a short break from the scarf (after knitting my 10 rows) to knit a quick hat for Pookie.  I used a new pattern by VanesaPolo that has not been published.  I tested it for her, and it knit up super quickly.  I used some Malabrigo Rios and size 9 needles (7 for the border) and I just can't believe how quickly I was finished.  Pookie is in a play set during the Vietnam war and has to get his hair cut off very short.  He wanted a hat to keep his head warm in New Jersey.  The Malabrigo is so soft.  The hat looks really good on him.  I forgot to ask Vanesa if I could post a photo, so it will have to wait.  She might want me to wait until she actually gets the pattern out.

Anyway, the hat was so fast that I am knitting a second one.  My brother asked me to make him a hat.  The one I knit for Pookie was plain.  I let the pattern and yarn do the talking.  For this second hat, I am using Cascade 220 in Navy and also a light blue.  I hope to do a bit of colorwork to make this hat more interesting.I will hold the different colors of yarn in each hand.  I hope it doesn't make things too confusing for me since in Double knitting, I hold both colors of yarn in the left hand.

I am also working on a scarf for Himes.  I bought 3 colors of Cascade 220 in Seahawks colors and am making Himes a scarf.  Sorry, no photos yet.  I'll try to get some soon.

Tomorrow is St. Distaff's Day in Lake Stevens, WA.  I am carpooling with Wajio and ReadNitDream.  I think Truespark, JitteryKnitter, and maybe Puzan will be there.  Also possibly BlueMoonWalking.  I am dusting off my Ashford Traditional and bringing it.  I need to get myself spinning regularly again.  I hope to do one yarn turn in for each month.

I finished the Vortex Afghan I was knitting for my oldest Goddaughter.  Here is a photo of Himes holding it up folded in half.

I don't have a full size photo of it since it is 5' x 6' (at least) and I need 2 kids to hold it up fully.  I really love how it came out.  I was asked to make one for my professional organization's (the Bellevue Association of Educational Office Professionals) fundraising auction this Spring.  I am going to use Seahawks colors.  It will be spring green, dark blue, and gray.  The background will be in the blue.  I am glad that I am not tired of making the square.  This afghan will be slightly smaller, 4x5, so it is more convenient to carry to games.

Ok, time for bed.
Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with 2 FO's for the new year.  The Diamond Head Hat (photo to come) and my Vortex Afghan.